The Rise of Nyx
by SydneyTheSquidney
Summary: Kathryn Steele has been at Camp Half-Blood for over ten years, and she loves it. Ten years of good memories, training, and routine are shattered when a new demigod comes to Camp, the funny and slightly annoying William Adams. Soon after he arrives, strange things begin to happen. Kathryn finds herself thrown into a whirlwind of danger, adventure, and excitement.


I struggled against the taller boy, my muscles flexing as I tried in vain to dislodge my opponent.

He was from the Hebe cabin, a brutish boy with crooked features and about enough brains to fill a chestnut. He held a dagger in one hand and my helmet in the other, and had raised the helmet as if to smash it on my face.

I barely had time to turn before the hard metal met my skin and I felt it split open, hot blood running down my face and into the grass. I grit my teeth and tried to ignore the pain, instead focusing on shoving the kid off. Finally I succeeded, and jumped up, wiping blood from my cheekbone. I looked down at this form on the ground, curled up with wide eyes. I had half a mind to bring my leg back and him in the nose, to give him a taste of his own medicine, but instead I settled for a nice kick to the gut before taking my helmet and running.

I heard yelling to my right, and veered off towards the voices. Two blue-plumed warriors were taking on a single red-helmeted girl. I made eye-contact with the girl, and she broke into a grin between sword strokes.

I shoved the pommel of my sword into the head of one of the two attackers, and he dropped like a bag of potatoes. The other boy hesitated and spun around, giving the girl just enough time to smack him in the face with her dagger, knocking him out.

I grinned at the girl, taking off my helmet. She took hers off to reveal a face covered in grime and dirt, but her smile gleamed nonetheless.

"I wondered where you were. You're never late. Why are you late right now?" The girl laughed, rubbing her hand on her forehead. When she took away her palm, it was streaked with dirt. She sheathed her sword and tipped her head back slightly, trying to catch her breath.

"Sorry, Addie. You know, snack break." I grinned, and Addie lightly punched my arm before cracking her knuckles and rolling her shoulders. This was an especially violent game of Capture the Flag as I had gotten into an argument with the Nemesis cabin and we were squaring off against one another. I was the only person in the Nike cabin, but the unquestioned leader of the camp nowadays. I had been at camp for ten years, and had been at camp the longest out of every camper. Addie had come to camp six months after I had, and had fallen victim to bullying because of her slight build and trouble with reading Greek. I had helped her out, as it came naturally to me, and made sure she was never teased again.

Addie drew her sword again and took a deep breath. "Okay. Alright, let's go get the flag." I nodded, and we took off through the bushes.

We had only run for about five minutes when we burst into a clearing. There was a tall banner in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by three blue-plumed boys who hadn't seen us before we jumped back into the bushes. The three soldiers were of medium height, all with roughly the same build. Brianna Shaw, the current Red captain, was from the Aphrodite cabin and as sharp as a tack. Obviously, these weren't her best fighters, and they would be out defending. I would imagine that one of these soldiers would be a challenge, but certainly not all three.

I motioned with two fingers to Addie to circle around and attack from behind. She nodded and weaved stealthily through the trees, her sword by her side as she got to the other side and raised a hand. I nodded slightly, and we erupted into the clearing.

The three soldiers didn't know which way to look as we fell upon them. One of them who had been carrying a bow hastily dropped his weapon in favor for a dagger, but it obviously wasn't his forte. Addie squared off against another boy who carried a spear, and the third had started jabbing at me with his sword as I raced towards the boy with the dagger.

I easily disarmed him and he swung at me with his fists, but I sidestepped and he tripped over my feet and onto his wrist. He rolled over, wincing, and I stepped over his form as the third boy came over, swing a broadsword. The sword was _definitely _broad, with a wide blade and handle.

He swung, and I underestimated his speed. The flat of the blade whacked my cheek, widening the cut on my cheekbone. I winced, but just retaliated with my sword once again. He wasn't as fast defending as he was attacking, and stumbled as he tried to move backwards.

I slashed out with my sword, but he sucked in his flat stomach and I only nicked him in between his plates of armor. I grit my teeth as he pushed back, regaining his hold on the battle as he hacked at me with his broadsword.

He swung again, and I shot backwards, but lost my balance and fell. He brought his sword down, but I rolled and it cut my bicep. I fought the urge to yell. It was a deep cut.

I shot up, ignoring the blood flow from my arm, and instead feinted and ducked underneath his arm. I kicked the back of his knee and he buckled, his sword flying from his grip. I spat blood from my mouth and met Addie by the banner. Her opponent was on the ground, moaning softly.

I sucked in breath. I was covered in sweat and dizzy from the blood loss between my face and my arm. When I met Addie eyes, they were wide with concern and focused on my arm. Nausea gripped me, and I steadied myself on the banner, the adrenaline from the past half hour wearing off as the battle caught up on me. Between the helmet-smashing-into-my-face and the massive-broadsword-gutting-me-like-a-fish parts of the night, I was not feeling well.

"Whoa, easy there, Kathryn," Addie grabbed my good arm and I took in a shaky breath, trembling slightly. I blinked to clear the black spots from my vision. "You lost a lot of blood."

Addie drew a roll of bandages from the inside of her armor. She was good at this stuff, being the daughter of Apollo and whatnot. She hummed slightly, a hymn to her father, as she worked on my arm.

I heard whooping as a kid with a red helmet ran into the clearing and saw us with the banner. His brown eyes were wide as he yelled into the woods, "Red team has the banner! Red team has the banner!"

And before I knew it, Addie and I were being raised onto the shoulders of fellow campers, my arm bound tightly in white cloth. Addie lifted the banner, and it seemed like only a blink of an eye passed before I was sitting next to her at the tables in the Dining Pavilion.

Nobody really followed the table rule, where you could only sit with your cabin. Chiron didn't mind, though, after I had talked sense into him after a kid had been chastised for switching tables. And now I shared a table with Addie. We sat at the same spot three times every day, unless one of us was sick.

I had a chopped brisket sandwich in front of me, as well as heaps of fruits and vegetables. There were only healthy foods here at Camp, but after ten years you were definitely used to it.

Addie poked at her barbecue, turning it over with her fork. "I'm exhausted. Are you going to the campfire tonight?"

I shook my head. I was just as tired, my arm aching where it had been stabbed and my head pounding. "I feel like trash. I hope I feel better tonight, we have to teach that sword fighting class tomorrow."

Addie nodded, pushing her near-empty plate. Right away it was whisked from the table by a nymph. "Oh, yeah, that's right. If you can't make it, that's okay." She took a deep breath, rubbing her eyes. Then, suddenly she perked up, her shoulder straightening.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you. When you were teaching class earlier, Chiron summoned me. A demigod was sighted in a public high school a few weeks ago. Bronx High School of Science, I think, and he's powerful, according to his protector. Chiron told me that after class, we have to go retrieve him." She grinned, her teeth gleaming in the dim light. "Get to feeling better quick, Kath. Tomorrow's going to be a heck of a day."


End file.
